Borjomi
Encyclopedia
Borjomi is a resort town in south-central Georgia
with a population estimated at 14,445. It is one of the districts of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region and is situated in the northwestern part of the region in the picturesque Borjomi Gorge
on the eastern edge of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park
. The town is famous for its mineral water
industry (which is presently the number one export
of Georgia), the Romanov summer palace in Likani
, and the WWF
-site Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park
. Borjomi mineral water
is particularly well-known in those countries which were a part of the former the Soviet Union
; the bottling of mineral water is a major source of income for the area. Because of the supposed curative powers of the area's mineral springs, it is a frequent destination for people with health problems. Borjomi is also home to the most extensive ecologically-themed amusement park in the Caucasus
.
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In the Middle Ages
, the area of what is now Borjomi was part of the Tori
province. It was populated by a series of forts guarding the strategic crossroad of routes leading to the western, eastern, and southern provinces of Georgia. Three important forts – those of “Gogia”, “Petra”, and “Sali” – still overlook the town from nearby hills. From the 16th century into the 19th, the area belonged to the noble family of Avalishvili
, but was largely depopulated as a result of Ottoman
inroads.
After the Russian
annexation of Georgia
, the Borjomi area began to revitalize. The toponym Borjomi is first recorded in 1819. The town and its surroundings were placed under the Russian military authorities. Borjomi began receiving soldiers in the 1820s. Buildings and baths began going up in the 1830s. Early in the 1840s, when the Russian viceroy
Yevgeni Golovin brought his daughter down to partake of the cure, he expedited the official transfer of the waters from the military to civil authorities. The viceroy Mikhail Vorontsov
, fascinated by local landscape and mineral waters, made Borjomi his summer residence and refurnished it with new parks. Its warm climate, its mineral water springs, and its forests made Borjomi a favorite summer resort for the aristocracy, and gave it its popular name of “the pearl of Caucasus.” In the 1860s, new hotels were built, and an administration for mineral waters was established. In 1871, Borjomi was bestowed upon the royal family member, Grand Duke
Mikhail Nikolayvich, then the viceroy of the Caucasus. In the 1890s, Mikhail’s son, Nikolay
, built a park and a chateau at Likani
, at the western end of Borjomi. The bottled mineral waters began to be extensively exported. The town grew significantly at the expanse of Russian migrants and, in 1901, the number of ethnic Russian inhabitants (2,031) outstripped the native Georgians (1,424) for the first time.
Following the Red Army invasion of Georgia
in 1921, the Soviet regime confiscated all aristocratic mansions and turned them into sanatoria, frequented by the Communist party
elite. Despite significant damage caused by a flood on April 18, 1968, Borjomi continued to grow throughout the Soviet era. The post-Soviet years of political and economic crisis hindered development of the area, but it remained a popular destination for internal tourism. In the 2000s, a growing government and private investment into tourism and municipal infrastructure helped Borjomi recover from a decade of decay.
Borjomi, together with Bakuriani
, was named by Georgia as an applicant city for the 2014 Winter Olympics
on June 22, 2005, but it was eliminated as a candidate by the International Olympic Committee
on June 22, 2006.
, 21, died on Feb. 12, 2010, after a training run crash at the luge
competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics
in Whistler, British Columbia
, Canada
hours before the opening ceremonies.
The 37 km (23 mi) Borjomi - Bakuriani
rail line uses 912 mm (36 in) track gauge.
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
with a population estimated at 14,445. It is one of the districts of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region and is situated in the northwestern part of the region in the picturesque Borjomi Gorge
Borjomi Gorge
Borjomi Gorge is a picturuesque canyon of the Mtkvari River in central Georgia. The Gorge was formed as a result of the Mtkvari River cutting its path through the Lesser Caucasus Mountains where the Trialeti and Meskheti Ranges meet. A significant portion of the Borjomi Gorge is covered by mixed...
on the eastern edge of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park
Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park
The Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park is a protected area in central Georgia, situated in the Lesser Caucasus, southwest to the nation’s capital of Tbilisi....
. The town is famous for its mineral water
Borjomi (water)
Borjomi is a brand of naturally carbonated mineral water from springs in the Borjomi Gorge of central Georgia. The artesian springs in the valley are fed by water that filters from glaciers covering the peaks of the Bakuriani mountains at altitudes of up to...
industry (which is presently the number one export
Export
The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" who is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer"...
of Georgia), the Romanov summer palace in Likani
Likani
Likani is a townlet in Georgia’s Samtskhe-Javakheti region, located at the west end of the town of Borjomi in the Borjomi Gorge, some 160 km west of Tbilisi, capital of Georgia...
, and the WWF
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...
-site Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park
Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park
The Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park is a protected area in central Georgia, situated in the Lesser Caucasus, southwest to the nation’s capital of Tbilisi....
. Borjomi mineral water
Borjomi (water)
Borjomi is a brand of naturally carbonated mineral water from springs in the Borjomi Gorge of central Georgia. The artesian springs in the valley are fed by water that filters from glaciers covering the peaks of the Bakuriani mountains at altitudes of up to...
is particularly well-known in those countries which were a part of the former the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
; the bottling of mineral water is a major source of income for the area. Because of the supposed curative powers of the area's mineral springs, it is a frequent destination for people with health problems. Borjomi is also home to the most extensive ecologically-themed amusement park in the Caucasus
Caucasus
The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...
.
History
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, the area of what is now Borjomi was part of the Tori
Tori (Georgia)
Tori is a historic region in central Georgia, now part of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, together with Javakheti and Meskheti. It borders on Trialeti to the east, Imereti to the northwest and Shida Kartli to the northeast. The province chiefly lay in what is now known as the Borjomi Gorge. In...
province. It was populated by a series of forts guarding the strategic crossroad of routes leading to the western, eastern, and southern provinces of Georgia. Three important forts – those of “Gogia”, “Petra”, and “Sali” – still overlook the town from nearby hills. From the 16th century into the 19th, the area belonged to the noble family of Avalishvili
Avalishvili
Avalishvili was a Georgian noble family, which branched off the Panaskerteli-Tsitsishvili house in the 16th century. The initial appanage of the family was located in the historical area called Tori and now known as the Borjomi Gorge with its center at the village of Sadgeri...
, but was largely depopulated as a result of Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
inroads.
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
annexation of Georgia
Georgia within the Russian Empire
Between 1801 and 1918 the country of Georgia was part of the Russian Empire. For centuries, the Muslim Ottoman and Persian empires had fought over various fragmented Georgian kingdoms and principalities but by the 18th century, a third imperial power, Russia, had emerged in the region. Since Russia...
, the Borjomi area began to revitalize. The toponym Borjomi is first recorded in 1819. The town and its surroundings were placed under the Russian military authorities. Borjomi began receiving soldiers in the 1820s. Buildings and baths began going up in the 1830s. Early in the 1840s, when the Russian viceroy
Viceroyalty of the Caucasus
The Viceroyalty of the Caucasus is a term used to denote the Imperial Russian administrative and political authority in the Caucasus region exercised through the offices of glavnoupravlyayushchiy and namestnik...
Yevgeni Golovin brought his daughter down to partake of the cure, he expedited the official transfer of the waters from the military to civil authorities. The viceroy Mikhail Vorontsov
Mikhail Vorontsov
Mikhail Vorontsov may refer to:*Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov , Russian prince, field-marshal, statesman*Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov , Russian count, statesman, diplomat...
, fascinated by local landscape and mineral waters, made Borjomi his summer residence and refurnished it with new parks. Its warm climate, its mineral water springs, and its forests made Borjomi a favorite summer resort for the aristocracy, and gave it its popular name of “the pearl of Caucasus.” In the 1860s, new hotels were built, and an administration for mineral waters was established. In 1871, Borjomi was bestowed upon the royal family member, Grand Duke
Grand Duke
The title grand duke is used in Western Europe and particularly in Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns. Grand duke is of a protocolary rank below a king but higher than a sovereign duke. Grand duke is also the usual and established translation of grand prince in languages which do not...
Mikhail Nikolayvich, then the viceroy of the Caucasus. In the 1890s, Mikhail’s son, Nikolay
Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia
Grand Duke Nicholas Mikhailovich of Russia , 26 April 1859 – 28 January 1919 was the eldest son of Grand Duke Michael Nicolaievich of Russia and a first cousin of Alexander III....
, built a park and a chateau at Likani
Likani
Likani is a townlet in Georgia’s Samtskhe-Javakheti region, located at the west end of the town of Borjomi in the Borjomi Gorge, some 160 km west of Tbilisi, capital of Georgia...
, at the western end of Borjomi. The bottled mineral waters began to be extensively exported. The town grew significantly at the expanse of Russian migrants and, in 1901, the number of ethnic Russian inhabitants (2,031) outstripped the native Georgians (1,424) for the first time.
Following the Red Army invasion of Georgia
Red Army invasion of Georgia
The Red Army invasion of Georgia also known as the Soviet–Georgian War or the Soviet invasion of Georgia was a military campaign by the Soviet Russian Red Army against the Democratic Republic of Georgia aimed at overthrowing the Social-Democratic government and installing the Bolshevik regime...
in 1921, the Soviet regime confiscated all aristocratic mansions and turned them into sanatoria, frequented by the Communist party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
elite. Despite significant damage caused by a flood on April 18, 1968, Borjomi continued to grow throughout the Soviet era. The post-Soviet years of political and economic crisis hindered development of the area, but it remained a popular destination for internal tourism. In the 2000s, a growing government and private investment into tourism and municipal infrastructure helped Borjomi recover from a decade of decay.
Borjomi, together with Bakuriani
Bakuriani
Bakuriani is a skiing resort in the Borjomi district of Georgia. It is located on the northern slope of the Trialeti Range, at an elevation of 1,700 meters above sea level....
, was named by Georgia as an applicant city for the 2014 Winter Olympics
2014 Winter Olympics
The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially the XXII Olympic Winter Games, or the 22nd Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event scheduled to be celebrated from 7 to 23 February 2014, in Sochi, Russia with some events held in the resort town of Krasnaya Polyana. Both the Olympic and...
on June 22, 2005, but it was eliminated as a candidate by the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
on June 22, 2006.
Famous Borjomians
Nodar KumaritashviliNodar Kumaritashvili
Nodar David Kumaritashvili was a Georgian luger, who suffered a fatal crash during a training run for the 2010 Winter Olympics competition in Vancouver, Canada, on the day of the opening ceremony...
, 21, died on Feb. 12, 2010, after a training run crash at the luge
Luge
A Luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine and feet-first. Steering is done by flexing the sled's runners with the calf of each leg or exerting opposite shoulder pressure to the seat. Racing sleds weigh 21-25 kilograms for singles and 25-30 kilograms for doubles. Luge...
competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics
2010 Winter Olympics
The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially the XXI Olympic Winter Games or the 21st Winter Olympics, were a major international multi-sport event held from February 12–28, 2010, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with some events held in the suburbs of Richmond, West Vancouver and the University...
in Whistler, British Columbia
Whistler, British Columbia
Whistler is a Canadian resort town in the southern Pacific Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the province of British Columbia, Canada, approximately north of Vancouver...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
hours before the opening ceremonies.
The 37 km (23 mi) Borjomi - Bakuriani
Bakuriani
Bakuriani is a skiing resort in the Borjomi district of Georgia. It is located on the northern slope of the Trialeti Range, at an elevation of 1,700 meters above sea level....
rail line uses 912 mm (36 in) track gauge.
External links
- Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park
- Borjomi Mineral Water Company
- Borzhom. An entry from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh EditionEncyclopædia Britannica Eleventh EditionThe Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. Some of its articles were written by the best-known scholars of the time...
, 1910–1911 Боржом. An entry from the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic DictionaryBrockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic DictionaryThe Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary is, in its scope and style, the Russian counterpart to the Encyclopædia Britannica. It contains 121,240 articles, 7,800 images, and 235 maps...
, 1890–1906